tiger1964 

Well, I “retired” two months ago, and have started riding again, and I plan on being more than a sometime-lurker here. The Palo Alto got rehabbed and that’s my daily rider, more on that later/elsewhere.

Meanwhile, a friend I’ve known since 3rd grade in 1964 just GAVE me his Falcon, bought in 1974/1975 (he now only rides carbon fiber). I have enough road bikes but an idea has been in the back of my mind for some time, a bike converted to a grocery-getter as several stores are nearby. This bike seems about ideal. I’ve broken it down, cleaned the various parts, bought a bunch of stuff (in person) at Velo Orange, and have started. A few things I might need advice/guidance on.

The break-down (it appears to already be Frankened quite a bit):

tiger1964 

Brakes: Yup, Campy Record. Parts all cleaned up, but I would not mind a link to an exploded diagram for reassembly. The bike sat outside a year, a few steel bits got light rust but so far brass brushes cleaned that up well. If my Palo Alto is any indication, really old Campy pads do not stop you and need to be replaced. Oh, and one cable adjuster is seized, any ideas? PB Blaster did NOT work (wow).

Powertrain: The black Shimano Crane rear derailleur seems OK, but this guy GAVE me a virgin-in-box Campy Nuovo Record he bought 40 years ago with the caveat that I use it on this bike. I have no problem with that. Rear freewheel was 14-24 so I just ordered from Amazon a 14-28 that recommends a 7-8sp chain so I got one of those too. Nervar 5-pin crank arms, single chainring, 45t and worn so I got a new 44t ring from Velo Orange.

Pedals: The included Specialized quill pedals, plastic (?) toe clips and Binda Extra straps are all serviceable and cleaned up fine but will this be OK for riding in street shoes (grocery shopping, remember)?

Seat: A cushy fabric-over-gel, looks a bit wide for a road bike but maybe ideal for this application? There’s also the longest micro-adjustable alloy post I think I’ve even seen at 13” which I might cut down.

Wheels: Low-flange campy hubs far newer than the bike, black semi-aero 700C rims, laced 3-cross, in fine shape and cleaned up and so smooth I might not bother to repack the bearings. 25mm tires, OK, but another friend is already replacing the 32mm’s on his new bike with something else, selling to me the old ones dirt cheap.

Headset: Campy in good shape.

Frame/Fork: 23” c-to-t, an inch shorter than my norm. No idea what tubing but suspect 531, forged dropouts and crown, neat wraparound seat stays. Straight, odd considering he wrecked on it badly enough to be hospitalized. Sadly, the paint is badly chipped, I’ve been scraping the myriad chips and scrapes and tried auto touch-up paint and already ran out! I’ll protect it the best I can but if the proof-of-concept works out, I can see next year breaking it down again for a repaint (in some some color other than this mud brown).

Controls: Generic Maes-style bars, won’t be used, and I accidentally left the Pivo “death stem” at Velo Orange. Bought upright bars and a new stem (steel), brake levers and a thumb derailleur control, plus neat gum grips and even a little gum cover for the thumb shifter.

Accessories: This bike’s operating radius might be so small I won’t bother with a water bottle. For carrying, I’ve read so maybe negative reviews of various panniers that I instead bought — start laughing now — Wald chrome newsboy baskets. Clunky but they take a beating. Hadn’t thought about a kickstand yet.

dweenk

Wald hardware, kickstand, and Campy stuff. I like it. That takes it way outside the box; but I think that a repaint may ruin the aesthetic.

Hudson308 

Pics or it didn't happen.

tiger1964 

When I finally post the pictures that Hudson308 (cubic inches, I presume?) wants, you'll see there IS no aesthetic. This is rather battered paint, I should repaint right now but I want the bike on the road and see if I use it as intended. I'm figuring 5%-10% of the paint is gone. That said, if the damage were less severe, I'd agree to be on-board with the "preserve the paint" dictum; for instance, my Palo Alto only has minor chips and I bought a best-guess match touch-up paint today for it.

I took a break and assembled the bars/stem/grips/brake and shift levers, just for fun and I think it looks interesting.

Also, the crank arms have surface oxidation that my old can of NevrDull won't remove. Aluminum Jelly, perhaps?

Now, if only a kraft brewer would open nearby and I could ride up to fill growlers...

dweenk

I have used Bon Ami scouring powder to remove really bad aluminum oxidation (I live near the ocean). After that a really fine wet sand paper and then an aluminum polishing compound. I'm not concerned with making the part pristine, but just clean and presentable.

squirtdad

pics this is what I did with torpado for reference (since reverted back)

repechage

Campagnolo brakes on a errand bike? Do it all the time.
Run what you have.

marius.suiram 

Falcon San Remo, blue, '72, project bike, Campagnolo equiped, Reynolds 531 sold last year cheap for 600$.

tiger1964 

Thanks, all, for the encouragement.

Found an exploded view of the brakes on-line, that should be enough to reassemble them.

Marius, I think my bike is a step down or two from yours, I worked at a Falcon dealer for six months in 1974, I don't remember all the details. The forged dropouts on mine seem to be no-name. There's a ghost of where a Reynolds decal once was on the seat tube; butted? Straight gauge? Who knows.

I'll pick up some Bon-Ami. I also recall a topic here once where "Barkeeper's Friend '' was used for some cleaning purposes, but I do not recall the details.

Yeah, that's the general idea -- wow, is that front basket held on by the quick-release? Does that work?

Road Fan

So why NOT a set of Campy brakes?

The only negative is possible denial of access to a geek collector.

Hudson308 

We love pics, even the rusty crusty "before" shots! It gives us hope and a frame of reference for some of our projects, especially when the "after" pics come later.

P1013040.jpg

P1010017.jpg

00X0X_evwxr9nBou8_600x450.jpg

...and yes, cubic inches. The only substitute for cubic inches is... more cubic inches.

tiger1964 

Well, in another (old) topic my wife's Windsor is sweet but someone swapped in Dura Ace brakes, the only non-Campy part, I started thinking to check the "reach" and perhaps put these brakes on her bike and the Shimanos on the Falcon. But the Windsor is in such fine condition that I think I'll hold out for a better set for her.

And I guess potential thieves would not carry 8mm and 10mm wrenches, and I'd come out of the store to find the bike stripped.

Let's see if I can remember how to take and download a photo.

That last one has similar wraparound seat stays to mine, I think. Oddly I have no chrome on the stays, fork blades or even the dropouts . Ugh, one of the dropout adjusting screws is bent, I suspect that will be a B to remove.

And, way OT, include a pic of whatever has that 308. Of course, my favorite place for a Hudson motor is in a Railton (I'm a Transatlantic fan).

Well, gotta go, three of us cycling downtown to visit another friend that I started riding with in 1968 when we were just kids (his father eventually forbade me to work on his bike, a story for another day).

Hudson308 

Well, it's not entirely off topic. The head and intake are rough-cast aluminum that I sanded then polished, along the lines of what @dweenk said.
Greenberg 2005 037.jpg

Greenberg 2005 036.jpg

I have seen a Railton or two with one of these!

squirtdad

yes it worked, I know some would not recommend, but the campy QR is pretty beefy. The basket is not to large which helps (note: my laptop (a really big one) did not fit easily, so I tried a bigger basket.....that was not a good thing, for some reason wasn't as stable and it affected the steering negatively, which a load in the smaller basket did not)

Road Fan

I think the steering stability issue was due to the basket size, rather than the clamping ability of the QR.

tiger1964 

Interesting. I've always avoided loads on the front of a bike, although others have no such problem. I got through Velo Orange a set of the rubber-isolated clamps for racks and HOPE that that will adequately secure the rear baskets... and I was also thinking about how to make them quickly demountable when I wanted to ride this bike without them.

A few things on the way that I hope are leading to reassembly.

John E

1. I have Campag. sidepulls on the Bianchi, and they were dangerous with Shimano pads, but now work well for me with modern cables, KoolStop pads, and Shimano aero brake handles, which fit my hands properly while providing 15 percent more leverage than the originals, which also were slightly "out of reach" for me to grab a fistful of brake in an emergency stop.

2. You can easily distinguish butted from plain gauge tubing by measuring the seat post diameter, since "double butted" tubing is not butted at the top of the seat tube. (For your bike, 27.2mm would indicate the good stuff; 26.4 to 26.6, plain gauge.)

tiger1964 

I picked up both Bon Ami and Bartender's Friend this morning (cheap enough), and did a test; one crank with BA, one with BF. I think the latter did slightly better but both helped, the cranks look much more presentable now.

dweenk

BF is available in two forms, a powder and a liquid slurry. I prefer the liquid slurry because I don't want any oxalic acid in my eyes or nose.

3alarmer 

Road Fan

This is related to the trail of the bike, imo. If a big load on the front sticks out so the center of that load is ahead of the axle, the steering can unstable or just wonky in some way. A high trail bike has the front wheel tucked in closer to the down tube, where low trail has the wheel out farther. The larger basket sticks out farther, so it could have been ahead of the front axle.

This isn't related to how the basket is held on the bike, except that if possible you should place the basket as close to the top of the front wheel, and as close to the head tube, as possible. Then, it does have to be held securely so it doesn't shift around.

Pars 

Good advice. I've used the KoolStops (both red and black) but like the new production Campy pads better (stop just as well, don't squeal, which I had a problem with on the KS pads).
New Genuine Campagnolo Super Nuovo Record Brake Pads New Genuine Campagnolo Super Nuovo Record Brake Pads [8032758978913] - $29.00 Velomine.com : Worldwide Bicycle Shop, fixed gear track bike wheelsets campagnolo super record vintage bike

I'm using Campy Athena or something aero levers with mine; haven't used the original NR levers in quite some time, but still have them.

tiger1964 

Thanks for all that.

I'll look into that derailleur housing. The brake adjuster finally broke loose, so I did not need the ATF/Acetone mix even though I have both ingredients here. I did not really want a steel stem, but took the Death Stem with me to Velo Orange to ensure handlebar fit; it was no-go, I took what they had the had the right diameters for the bars and the fork. That's good input on the basket mounting, I have the rubber-coated clamps; I might play around with wing nuts for a demountable solution.

tiger1964 

Quick update (pictures to follow eventually):

The bike is up and rolling, I just rode it around the block (sounds like I just beat a rainstorm). A few points:

32MM tires are wide enough that the Campy release on the caliper does not open the brake enough for insertion of the wheel; the cable release on the Velo Orange levers do open enough, so this is a two-step process now for wheel removal.

I wet the gum grips with dish soap and still sliding around on the bars a week later, I removed them and washed them out, reinserted with water and there's probably a little soap left. Still sliding slightly. What is the modern grip installation method?

Once the rear basket is on, I am a little doubtful that the rubber-bushed P-clamps at the bottom of the seat stays will hold, I visualize them sliding into the dropouts (which have no fender eyelets, bummer) and fouling the chain.

Fit-and-comfort seem great, visibility good, the bike does not feel as "clunky" as it looks; more like what it is - a road bike with a more upright position.

I'll get used to it but I can tell the thumb shifter and the NR derailleur don't feel "made for each other".

I did not have single-sided cable guide for down near the bottom bracket, nor a single sided housing stop for where the down tube levers used to be. I took a hacksaw to double-sided ones I had laying around, works but not pretty. Source ideas?

Using this in street clothes means that in cooler weather I'll be in long trousers, not shorts... and no chain guard. Wow, I just found the "Terry" brand trouser bands I got in 1968 when I stripped down my Hercules 3-speed and installed drop bars. I don't even know if those are made anymore.